Students Repsond to the Threat of Climate Change

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Climate change threatens the future generation’s quality of life but with careful consideration many individuals can easily reverse this in multiple ways.
The United Nations panel’s researchers found that “human caused” carbon dioxide emissions need to be cut in half from the projected 2010 levels. To avoid the worst effects from climate change this needs to be accomplished by 2030.
Climate change is affecting the U.S and the rest of world. As of right now the world is warming, sea levels are rising, and polar ice caps are melting due to the rising temperatures. Severe and destructive weather has also become more common in recent years.
“Climate change is a big deal for future generations, and sadly I don’t think enough people care to do anything about it,” said Addie Eliason, a freshman at BCCC.
According to NASA, scientists believe global temperatures will continue to rise for decades to come. Mainly due to greenhouse gases produced by human activities. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which includes more than 1,300 scientists from the United States and other countries predict a temperature rise of 2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century.
“Climate Change should be a big issue to all of us because we only have one earth,” said Jen Abele, a freshman at Bucks’, “It has been promoted and pampered for the last 20 years because no one realized how big of a problem it actually was.”
The U.S has programs like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in place. The agency’s main purpose is to develop information on how to protect the planet from climate change and its associated impacts on human health, ecosystems, and socioeconomic systems. While the EPA can gather information and research it, it’s up to us to make a difference.
The precautions and changes that we can take in order to help slow down the impending effects of climate change are smaller than you might think. A simple switch to energy saving light bulbs and turning off lights when you leave the room can make an immediate impact. Using lower temperatures when using the washing machine is a minimal change but it does make a difference.
Diet changes like eating less meat, buying organic products, growing food, and not wasting food can also help. The global livestock industry produces more greenhouse gases than cars, trains, ships, and planes combined. An individual lowering the amount of animal products they consume can help lower the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.
“I love nature and I try to do what I can to protect it,” said Eliason, who does her part by eating less meat and sticking to a mainly vegetarian diet.
The effects of climate change aren’t the only issue for future generations, it’s the belief of climate itself and the protocols and acts put in place by the government.
Over the past few years President Trump has been very vocal on his beliefs that climate change is in fact a hoax. In the past Trump has tweeted that “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive,” but in October Trump redacted what he said.
In an interview with CBS Trump said “I don’t think it’s a hoax. I think there’s probably a difference. But I don’t know that it’s manmade. I will say this: I don’t want to give trillions and trillions of dollars. I don’t want to lose millions and millions of jobs.”
The Trump administration has moved to protect coal producers and other energy sources like natural gas, claiming it is a national security risk to rely only on renewable energy. However, many scientists claim that one of the most efficient ways to curb global warming would be to drastically reduce the country’s use of fossil fuels not encourage it.
“Climate Change should be a big issue to all of us because we only have one earth,” said Jen Abele, a freshman at Bucks.
Abele continued, “It [climate change] has been promoted and pampered for the last 20 years because no one realized how big of a problem it actually is.”